tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-953566799020837262016-09-07T21:25:42.476-07:00The Writer's LodgeWooferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08042672012155516555noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-95356679902083726.post-47849335046831021672015-03-24T09:39:00.001-07:002015-03-24T09:46:43.825-07:00A 1,000 Words a Day. You Can Do It!It's been a while since I've last posted anything to this page, and for that I apologize, but life intervenes and you can't always do what you want to do. And I guess that's why I want to share this post by Hunter Shea, wherein he talks about his writing process. With my work schedule (80 hours a week), I often find it difficult to sit down and write because it just seems too daunting, especially when you're drained from a 16-hour day, but broken down in this way, it seems doable. So for those who are struggling to find the time, I share this post:<br /><br /><a href="http://huntershea.com/2015/03/24/writing-your-book-the-thousand-word-march/">http://huntershea.com/2015/03/24/writing-your-book-the-thousand-word-march/</a>Wooferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08042672012155516555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-95356679902083726.post-59354356467230864022012-08-21T20:41:00.002-07:002012-08-21T20:41:26.509-07:00And then he... TO BE CONTINUED<br /><div class="MsoNormal">Okay, it’s time to rant. I originally started this page to showcase projects I am working on with the hopes of getting some feedback, but something has been on my mind the past week or so and I need to vent.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">TO BE CONTINUED<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Those three little words drive me fucking crazy. I don’t care where it is. The end of a movie, the end of a television show, at the end of a book, especially at the end of a book. I’m one of those people who, if it’s a favorite author, will buy that book the moment it hits the shelves, and to see those words at the end is enough to make me scream. They mean a whole year–or longer–before I know how the story is resolved. It’s beyond aggravating.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I remember the first time I encountered those three little words. Stephen R. Donaldson, <i>The Mirror of Her Dreams</i>. I had read Donaldson’s <i>The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant</i><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #4e4e4e; font-family: &quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">&nbsp;</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #4e4e4e; font-family: &quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">&nbsp;</span></span>and loved them, so when the first of a new series was announced, I grabbed it and dropped everything to read it. I won’t bore you with the details; I’ll just jump to the end (no spoilers, so don’t worry). &nbsp;The hero has escaped, but our heroine, for whatever reason, is left behind. The Big Bad breaks through the door, grabs our heroine, and says something along the lines of “Now you are mine.” TO BE CONTINUED What the hell? I mean, seriously, that’s where you’re leaving us? A whole year… a whole fucking year…before I was able to find out what happened. It was enough to make me swear off series books until I knew for a fact I had all the books in my possession, or if I knew ahead of time that each book is wrapped up at the end. I don’t care if there’s a larger story arch that encompasses the series, just so long as the story contained within that particular book is wrapped up by the time I read the last sentence.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">So what, you might ask, prompted this little tirade if I have made it a general rule not to read series book unless those previously stated requirements have been met? Well, a couple of weeks ago I read David Bernstein’s <i>Machines of the Dead</i>, Book 1 of a series. If I knew it was part of a series, I can hear you asking, why did I break my own rules and read it without having the rest of the books readily at hand? Because I told the author I would. BUT had I known it was going to end in a cliffhanger, I would have told him, “I’ll pass. Let me know when the other two books are published.” What makes this particular instance even more aggravating is that Book 2 hasn’t even been written yet. I only pray this doesn’t turn into another Chris Snow situation, where Dean Koontz has delivered two books of a trilogy, and 13 years later we’re still waiting for the third and final installment. And just last night, as I was browsing through my Kindle looking for what to read next, I came across a title I couldn’t remember downloading. I looked it up on Amazon, saw it was a book dealing with lycanthropes (my favorite), and decided that would be next on my list. However, something told me to check out the reviews, something I rarely do, but I’m glad I did. Nowhere in the description or on the cover does it mention this book is part of a series, but every review indicated that the book ends with a cliffhanger. So off I go to see if the next book has been released. The author has published other books, but nothing indicating the next installment of the werewolf novel. Well, I created a new Collection on my Kindle for Books Awaiting Sequels, and in it went.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">What possesses an author to leave the reader hanging like that? In this age when books are so easily accessible, literally with the click of a button, do you think someone is going to want to wait a year or more to find out what happens next? Hell, after all that time you’ll be lucky if they even remember the characters’ names, let alone care what happens to them. And you as an author? Leave me hanging like that once, you won’t ever get the chance to do it again. You are simply deleted off my radar. Just ask Mr. Koontz (like it matters to him). I haven’t read a Dean Koontz book since <i>Seize the Night</i>, and won’t read anything else of his until I get the third Chris Snow book.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">And that book that sitting all by its lonesome in that Kindle folder? To tell the truth, it’s a book that will probably never be read–unless, of course, somebody reminds me sometime in the future that Part 2 of that werewolf novel is out. You remember? The one you put on your Kindle in that folder. By that time it’ll probably be gone, deleted to make room for other books by authors who know how to start a story on page one and finish that story on the last page.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">What about you? Do cliffhangers grate on your every last nerve the way they do mine?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>Wooferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08042672012155516555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-95356679902083726.post-48745696946134720882011-10-26T12:19:00.000-07:002011-10-26T13:53:00.811-07:00Who Will Become Amazon's Next Victim?<p class="MsoNormal">In a world where everything is changing so rapidly, the publishing industry has been trying its best to stay the same. They were slow in realizing the impact e-books would have on the market, and even after Amazon showed how easy it is for authors to reach the public without the benefit of a traditional publisher, and how profitable it can potentially be, they are still reluctant to change. Low royalty rates are still the norm, as are the long delays between manuscript acceptance to publication. But as long as there was no real competition, they were content to let things ride. Will they continue to be content now that Amazon has thrown its hat into the ring and now is offering authors better deals than they were receiving with their current publishers to publish under their own imprints? Is this the shake-up the industry needs?</p><p>Over at Crime Fiction Collective, Andrew E. Kaufman, best-selling author of <i>While the Savage Sleeps</i>, weighed in on this very issue, and he was kind enough to allow me to re-post his entry here.</p><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CXd00OcpVnE/TqhvGk34WII/AAAAAAAAAdE/7jvCwD511q0/s1600/KaufmanBlog.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 229px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CXd00OcpVnE/TqhvGk34WII/AAAAAAAAAdE/7jvCwD511q0/s320/KaufmanBlog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5667902289813723266" /></a><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://crimefictioncollective.blogspot.com/2011/10/who-will-become-amazons-next-victim.html?spref=bl">Crime Fiction Collective: Who Will Become Amazon's Next Victim?</a></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; ">It’s been all over <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/17/technology/amazon-rewrites-the-rules-of-book-publishing.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(60, 11, 56); ">the news </a>the past week—this fall, Amazon will publish 122 books in a number of different genres through their own imprint, and reports say this is just the beginning. According to industry insiders, they’ve been aggressively courting some of their top authors, and just last week the company announced they’ll publish actress/director Penny Marshall’s new memoir.<br /><br />Amazon has already shown authors they no longer need an agent or a big-name publishing company to get their books into readers' hands, thanks to their groundbreaking self-publishing model. However, this next move seems push the notion up a notch and has many wondering if traditional publishers will soon find themselves on the same boat as bookstores did after Amazon singlehandedly brought them to their knees.<br /><br />Word from industry insiders is that publishers aren't just wondering about that prospect-- they're plenty worried about it, too, and rightly so. There’s history to consider. Amazon revolutionized how we read with their Kindle, and if this publishing endeavor succeeds, they just may influence what we read as well.<br /><br />Will Amazon one day put publishers out of business? Several years ago, that might have been a preposterous question, but today more than a few feel it's a distinct possibility. The publishing industry hasn’t exactly shown much tenacity when it comes to keeping up with Amazon’s fast-moving forward-thinking business acumen, one that has placed them far ahead of the pack. And in an industry that as of late seems to be reinventing itself practically by the minute, not keeping up could mean falling by the wayside. Historically, we’ve seen this happen repeatedly--will we see it again here?<br /><br />Amazon has already proven itself as a force to be reckoned with on the technological front as well after its Kindle survived the great iPad invasion. Now they’re raising the stakes by aggressively going after the market share with their new Fire, a smaller, lighter, and most importantly, cheaper tablet that could give Apple a run for their money. But more than just a media device, the Fire may also help push Amazon into the role as publishing giant. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has referred to the device as an "end-to-end service," which can only be interpreted as something that will keep them in the loop every step of the way, from the product's inception to its final destination: the customers' hands.<br /><br />Of course, opinions vary on the subject, and this is just mine. But what about you? Do you think publishers will become a thing of the past? And if Amazon does manage dominate the book biz on every level, what do you think the implications of that might be?</span></div>Wooferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08042672012155516555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-95356679902083726.post-26195661127839890442011-06-27T23:51:00.000-07:002011-06-27T23:53:55.033-07:00My ApologiesJust wanted to put up a quick post to let y'all know I haven't forgotten about this little corner of my blog, but health issues and surgery forced me to put this on the back burner. But I'm back and should be putting up a new post within the next few days.Wooferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08042672012155516555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-95356679902083726.post-8861166973532463172011-01-02T18:57:00.000-08:002011-01-02T20:02:08.104-08:00A New Year, A Clean SlateWell, in 2010 my first short story was accepted for publication, but it won't be available until February of this year. It might not seem that far away, but to finally see your name in print, it seems like an eternity. That was THE high point of the year.<br /><br />The year 2010 also saw my return to writing after a long hiatus. During the course of the year, I had started numerous projects&mdash;five novel projects, one novella, and over a dozen short stories&mdash;very few of which have been completed. They may never see completion. Am I disappointed by that? Not at all. I had to wipe off the cobwebs and grease the hinges on that part of my mind I had closed the door on five years ago. I started two blogs: the one you are currently reading and Woofer's Lair (http://www.wooferslair.blogspot.com/), a site dedicated to book reviews, as well as showcasing some of my own writing. I also stumbled across a completed first draft of my first novel manuscript, <span style="font-style:italic;">Ursa Major</span>, that I thought was forever lost. I have not found the disks, but I do have the hard copy, which is better than nothing.<br /><br />So what will 2011 hold in store?<br /><br />My first priority will be polishing up the short stories I have completed and get those circulating. My second priority will be to get a final draft of <span style="font-style:italic;">Ursa Major</span> completed. The second draft is well underway, and once that is completed, I will be sending it out to a group of beta readers. While that is out with readers, I will be working on completing the first draft of a ghost story I started last year. I have a little over 60,000 words towards it already, but I put it aside because I thought of a new beginning for it and was trying to decide to restart it or to keep going until it was done. I've decided to restart it. The good thing is, I will be able to keep a majority of what I already have.<br /><br />In order to get this done, I have done something I resolved to never again do&mdash;I made a New Years Resolution. I have committed myself to a five day writing schedule, with a minimum requirement of 1,000 words per day. If I get more done, so much the better, but I am committing to a minimum of 1,000 words.<br /><br />Have you made any writing-related resolutions? Feel free to share them with us.Wooferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08042672012155516555noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-95356679902083726.post-72596500012151392112010-12-06T20:32:00.001-08:002010-12-06T21:09:43.598-08:00Writing. . . It's a JobSorry for the prolonged absence, folks, but when NaNo comes around, I'm scarce all around. Even my family doesn't see much of me. And for those who are not familiar with the term NaNo, it's short for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). The idea is to write a 50,000 word first draft in 30 days. Which is what inspired this posting.<br /><br />As October draws to a close, I start seeing postings on Twitter and Facebook about people gearing up for NaNo. I see some published writers stating that they will be participating, while other published authors knock NaNo and see it as some sort of joke. When I questioned one of these authors who spoke negatively of the month-long activity, he said to me that if you are serious about your writing, you should be doing it on a daily basis, not saving all up for a one-month exercise.<br /><br />He has a point. But to make snide comments and to treat the efforts of those participation with such derision shows a lack of professionalism. And maybe just a little bit if jealousy. But back to his comment: If you are serious about your writing, you should be doing it on a daily basis. Is he right?<br /><br />Most of the books on writing written by writers state that you should write on a daily basis. Set yourself a daily word goal, set aside a block of time, and write until you meet that goal, even if your don't feel up to it. It sounds like good advice, if you can find a couple of hours in your day in which to meet that goal. Other writers have told me it doesn't matter how much you write, as long as you write every day--again, even if your don't feel up to it. Some days you may only get a couple hundred words down, but there are other days when you just might get a couple thousand down. This also seems like sound advice. But the best advice I ever got was from Hal Bodner, author of <span style="font-style: italic;">Bite Club</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">In Flesh and Stone</span>, and <span style="font-style: italic;">For Love of the Dead</span>. He told me writing is a job, and just like any job, you are entitled to your weekend, you are entitled to your sick days, your personal days, your holidays, and your vacation. However, if you decide you are going to take a weekend, make sure you only take two days off, then get write back to work. If you decide you are taking a vacation, decide if it's going to be a week, two weeks, etc., and at the end of that time frame, get back to writing. This is what you do; this is <span style="font-style: italic;">your</span> job.<br /><br />I've tried all of the above, and I find Hal's advice works the best for me. By allowing myself my two days off every week, I find I can approach my writing fresh. If I don't feel like sitting down in front of the computer on a day that I found particularly stressful, I don't feel like I have to add to that stress by forcing out a set word goal, most of which will get deleted the next day because it sounds exactly like what it was -- forced. And I have found that by allowing myself this time, and knowing that there's a scheduled vacation at such and such time, I don't feel like I'm suffering the burnout that I did when I spent months on end writing without a break, even when I didn't feel up to it.<br /><br />Which ever way you decide to approach your writing sessions is up to you, as long as you keep in mind the goal is the same no matter how you look at it -- to get the words down because writing is, after all, just another job.Wooferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08042672012155516555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-95356679902083726.post-1424617209470717502010-10-26T19:47:00.000-07:002010-10-28T21:35:38.273-07:00Inspiration: Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You AreThe recent acceptance of my short story, "Forgive Me, Father, For I Have. . . <span style="font-style:italic;">Burp</span>!", started me thinking about the places I find inspiration for stories. This particular story had its seed in a Yahoo! group dedicated to Urban Fantasy author Mark Henry. For those of you not familiar with Mark's work, he writes, by his own admission, "zombie smut for the masses." If you would like to check out him out, please visit his website, <a href="http://www.markhenry.us/">www.markhenry.us</a>.<br /><br />Anyway, awhile back, Mark made a comment about being the Father Confessor and we should come forward to confess our sins. Since he writes about zombies, I made a comment about literally eating my girlfriend and wanted to know if I would be going to Hell for it. That comment wouldn't leave me alone. It stuck in my head for about a month before I sat down and starting weaving it into something with some dark comic overtones. Never did I think it would see the light of day, let alone print -- I just needed to get it out of my head. Never did I dream it would be the piece that would get me published.<br /><br />My completed novel manuscript, working title <span style="font-style:italic;">Ursa Major<span style="font-style:italic;"></span></span>, which is currently in the editing and revising stage, started out as a bizarre dream that haunted my sleep for a couple of months. I kept playing with it, trying to figure out what I could do with it, and finally things just fell into place.<br /><br />My second novel manuscript, which is just about at the half-way point, was inspired by Reba McEntire's version of the song <span style="font-style:italic;">Maggie Creek Road</span>. While there is nothing supernatural about the song, the minute I heard it, the story was born. Other projects I have waiting in the wings have been inspired by questions posed in Facebook, snippets of overheard conversations at different locations, tabloids, the nightly News, etc. The sources of inspiration are endless; you just have to be open to them.<br /><br />Where did you get the inspiration for your current work in progress?Wooferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08042672012155516555noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-95356679902083726.post-37890688683080494382010-10-15T22:22:00.000-07:002010-10-15T22:42:57.270-07:00The Debate Continues: Outline vs Creative Free-styleIn recent posts, a couple of published authors discussed how they worked sans outline when approaching a new project. Today, we hear from the other court as Carla René talks about working with an outline.<br /><br />Carla René is a professional stand-up comedienne, TV/stage actor, and author of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Gaslight Journal</span>, as well as two short-story collections. She also writes a regular comedy column at Examiner.com.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_QYjrjvKYKaU/TLk5uL0U1nI/AAAAAAAAAM0/9y5j-W_Jecc/s1600/Blogpost.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 166px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_QYjrjvKYKaU/TLk5uL0U1nI/AAAAAAAAAM0/9y5j-W_Jecc/s320/Blogpost.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528513483183019634" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Having just completed my very first novel, and beginning it many years ago—never sure if I was going to finish it&mdash;I intuitively created an outline for it. Granted, it was a very bare-bones outline, but it was there.<br /><br />Much like minimum word count, outlines are a requirement of agents and publishers. Agents normally require them from your second contracted book and forward in the process, but not for the first one. Thus, if you're shooting for a mainstream DTB publisher, you need to get yourself in the habit of using them. However, if you're going the indie route, and you know best how you work (some can retain details in their head, some can't), and it won't trip you up, then don't use it.<br /><br />On November 1, I hope to begin my second novel in NaNoWriMo. So therefore, I am definitely attempting to get myself into the habit of using an outline, each and every time. Except this time, I'm going to employ advice from Joe Konrath (he and I met in the same online writing group back in 2000, so I've always trusted his advice), and make it as detailed as possible.<br /><br />If you do this before you begin the book&mdash;creating incredibly detailed characters, plots, settings and sub-plots&mdash;then there's really nothing left to do once you're ready to begin writing except enjoy yourself, filling in all the bells, whistles, and dialogue. He suggests making them about 30&ndash;45 pages.<br /><br />I'll blog sometime soon about some of my own experiences with outlining once my edits are done, but for this next novel, I am making it as detailed as possible before beginning.<br /><br />On <span style="font-style: italic;">The Gaslight Journal</span>, as I said, mine was bare-bones, and as I wrote, I found myself revising the outline as the fluid dynamics of my story set in. I think I mainly revised the outline so I could avoid retrograde amnesia in my details. And especially with doing historical fiction, details are everything, for one anachronistic slip, and you've shot your plausibility all to hell.<br /><br />So, yes&mdash;I recommend outlines. Keeping in mind, after you've sold your first book and landed yourself an agent, she will want one for every book contracted to you after that. They're a great habit to get into.Wooferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08042672012155516555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-95356679902083726.post-15137519120582977282010-10-04T08:55:00.000-07:002010-10-05T00:08:22.834-07:00The Birth of a WriterI want to write, but there are countless reasons why I don't. I don't have the time. I've got nothing to say that will be of interest to anybody. I'm afraid. We've all been there, doubting and second-guessing ourselves, until we finally sit down to do it. It might have been easy once you got going, there may have been a pool of blood and sweat soaking into the carpet around your desk, but you did it. And that work that you completed? You were so proud of it! Was it any good? Probably not, but at the time it didn't matter. You did it, and that's what counts.<br /><br />Recently I mentioned the fact that I belong to a number of Yahoo groups. In one of these groups there has been a discussion of "Plot vs 'Pantsing'", which prompted one of the members to stop wanting and start doing. I asked her to share her feelings as she sat down to start her journey. Here, in her own words, she recounts the start of her journey.<br /><br />"I was asked to share how it felt to sit down and start writing &mdash; seriously writing. I have dreamed of being an author for as long as I can remember, but never applied myself. I don’t think I ever gave it much thought &mdash; writing was just a dream. And to be honest, I have rarely had a plot or set of characters come together in my head to give me the impetus &mdash; or maybe a compulsion &mdash; to write. So it was a surprise to find myself deciding to get serious with my writing about a week ago. A bunch of successful authors in a forum were discussing how they wrote. Many of them just start banging away and let the story write itself &mdash; with lots of editing and rewriting later on, of course. For some, stories are plot-driven while for others they are character-driven, but they don’t necessarily use an outline. I had always been told that in order to create a novel, one needed to outline and create the plot in advance, which to me seemed to take the fun out of the process. I had no intention of spending that much time on writing if it wasn’t going to be fun.<br /><br />My experience this past week hasn’t been wonderful &mdash; I don’t have a blank page, but I don’t seem to fill pages. I’m honestly on page three of my story and I’ve given four or five hours to the project. I started out quickly enough but when I re-read the beginning, it was dead. I realized that I had been telling the story rather than showing the story so that I and others could experience the story. So I immediately went back to the first paragraph to paint pictures and events with words. It seems that I am plagued with telling rather than showing. So every time I manage to write down a paragraph, I make myself go back and fill in all the detail. Again, and again, and again, until it does have some life to it. What starts out as a paragraph ends up being two or three paragraphs (at least) when it brings the reader into the experience. One would think that as a result I would have at least eight to ten pages now due to expanding what I had originally written. Not so. Because I’m never satisfied even if I can bring the scene alive. I keep fiddling with it.<br /><br />To my surprise, I suspect that maybe my BORING, dead writing is an outline. I’m wondering if it might make sense to continue on with the boring writing and fill it in later with descriptions of the characters and events that bring the story to life. Because I’m getting nowhere fast. If I can complete the work, whether I consider it an outline or not, I will have something that I can edit or change as I like. My current process is clearly not working. I am going over everything with such a fine comb that there’s no room for creativity to exist.<br /><br />As I look at my work in progress I am amazed, frustrated, amused (one has to laugh at oneself), and determined. I don’t know whether I will ever be published or whether what I write will be any good, but I intend to find out. And the surprises keep coming. I am learning about myself as well as about writing. I wonder whether I will have learned more about myself or the process of writing when I complete this work. And I am having fun. It isn’t a lighthearted kind of fun, but a deeper sense of satisfaction that comes from challenging myself to reach beyond my current boundaries. Mostly I’m excited &mdash; but the page in front of me is quite intimidating. However, I refuse to let that blank page stop me before I have discovered my true capabilities."Wooferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08042672012155516555noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-95356679902083726.post-58709958527805314362010-10-04T08:17:00.000-07:002010-10-04T08:52:40.212-07:00Timothy Hallinan Weighs in on Plot vs "Pantsing"As part of an ongoing debate, I've invited Timothy Hallinan to weigh in on the Plot vs "Pantsing" issue. Timothy Hallinan has written ten published novels under his own name and half a dozen more in disguise. His books have made Ten Best lists here and abroad, been translated into half a dozen languages, received starred reviews from all the publishing trade papers, and gotten remarkably enthusiastic critical reactions all across the country. The Denver Post called his current series of Poke Rafferty thrillers set in Bangkok "Extraordinary," and Deadly Pleasures Magazine said, "The Poke Rafferty books have become my very favorite series." Hallinan is the only writer ever to write the Mystery of the Month in BookPage for three years running, and all four of the Rafferty novels have been picks in BookSense.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_QYjrjvKYKaU/TKnwQIqgVyI/AAAAAAAAAMs/ZsKNV8ge2VM/s1600/HallinanBlog.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 226px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_QYjrjvKYKaU/TKnwQIqgVyI/AAAAAAAAAMs/ZsKNV8ge2VM/s320/HallinanBlog.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524210577940961058" border="0" /></a><br />Thanks, Mike for allowing me to have a say.<div><br /></div><div>There may be dozens of ways for writers to depict character, create settings, preserve tension, increase stakes, draw the reader in, make a story readable, but there are only two ways to plot -- in advance, or by the seat of one's pants. I'm a pantser, pure and simple. I love the exhilaration of saying, in essence, "Let me tell you a story," with no idea whatsoever what that story will be.</div> <div><br /></div><div>I need a character who interests me in a situation that has potential to become more complex as it develops. That's pretty much all I need. The rest of it -- the actual writing, the discovery of the story I'm telling -- a story that seems to present itself to me in bolts, like fabric -- that's the part I love.</div> <div><br /></div><div>I even love it when I'm completely lost, as I am right now in my current book. I know something is happening here, as Bob Dylan once wrote, but I don't know what it is. And that's fine with me. I don't want to know. When the time is right, a character will do something, a door will open, a secret will be revealed, a lie will be penetrated -- whatever form it may take, the magic will happen.</div> <div><br />In my most recent Bangkok thriller, <span style="font-style: italic;">The Queen of Patpong</span>, I have a character, a teenage girl, who's being pitched to go down to Bangkok and work in the bars. I had absolutely no idea how to tell that story, until the bar girl who's making the pitch reached up and removed a sapphire earring and tossed it to the teenager. The moment that earring flashed through the air, it brought with it the first 3-4 weeks in Bangkok -- the amount of time it would take for the teenager to learn, first, that she's been lied to in almost every regard; and second, that her new "sapphire" earrings have turned her ears green.</div> <div><br /></div><div>It's a kind of magic, I suppose, although I'm not all woo-woo about it. It's just the way my process works. I frequently have the impression that the story I'm struggling to tell already exists, perfect and complete, somewhere in my brain, and my job is to tease it out without forcing it into the wrong shape. Ninety-nine percent of the time, I can do that by listening to the characters. (Not "my" characters -- <i>the</i> characters. If I think of them as mine and try to move them around, they turn into hand puppets and all the life goes out of the world they inhabit. And, perhaps most sadly, they become no fun to write.)</div> <div><br /></div><div>In all, I've had ten novels published (and by Big Five publishers, too) without ever knowing how the story was going to turn out. Six mysteries and four thrillers have brought themselves into being one writing session at a time, each day with its own little (or big) revelation. And sure, when you write like this, you end up with a mess -- but it's a specific kind of mess that's very easy to fix. I always have plot lines that are carefully established and then abandoned in favor of something more interesting, and also the somethings-more-interesting that are completely missing from the beginning of the book because they didn't present themselves until later. So it's a matter of going back and yanking the threads that were dropped while weaving in the ones that emerged partway through.</div> <div><br /></div><div>By the way, the six mysteries that I wrote in the 90s are now becoming available on Kindle and iBooks for $2.99 each. I had to look at them for the first time in 15 or 20 years before they went online, and I did it with a certain amount of dread, but I'm really happy with the way they've held up. The titles, if you'd like to try one, are <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/Things-Simeon-Grist-Mystery-ebook/dp/B003UHVTXW"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1286205750_1">THE FOUR LAST THINGS</span></a>,<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Squeal-Simeon-Mystery-ebook/dp/B003Y5HDGC"> <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1286205750_2">EVERYTHING BUT THE SQUEAL</span></a>, and <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/Skin-Simeon-Grist-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0042P53L0"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1286205750_3">SKIN DEEP</span></a>. </div> <div><br /></div><div>I'm so addicted to writing by the seat of my pants that I've just started what I call THE STUPID 365 PROJECT, on my blog at <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.timothyhallinan.com/blog"></a><a><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1286205750_4">www.timothyhallinan.com/blog</span></a> -- it's a commitment to write a new blog with a minimum length of 300 words, <i>every single day for a year</i>. Today is October 3, and the third one went up this morning, and I'm already beginning to feel the pressure. Things should start to get desperate in a few weeks, since I have no idea how I'm going to sustain this for 365 consecutive days.</div> <div><br /></div><div>But I know what I'm going to write about tomorrow (maybe), and that's enough for now. It's just as <span style="border-bottom: 2px dotted rgb(54, 99, 136); cursor: pointer;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1286205750_5">E.L. Doctorow</span> said about writing a novel: It is, he said, “ . . . like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.”</div><div><br /></div>And that's the way I like to do it.Wooferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08042672012155516555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-95356679902083726.post-86545157988515421242010-10-02T19:27:00.000-07:002010-10-02T21:11:07.147-07:00Andrew Kaufman on The Writing ProcessA few days ago I talked about how I approach a project and how I don't use an outline when I am writing. Today, <a href="http://www.andrewekaufman.com/">Andrew E. Kaufman</a>, author of the bestselling Kindle title <span style="font-style: italic;">While the Savage Sleeps</span>, stops by to talk about his approach to a new project. Thanks, Drew!<br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_QYjrjvKYKaU/TKgCRDIOQ0I/AAAAAAAAAMk/Yo53b835uFo/s1600/KaufmanBlog.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 229px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_QYjrjvKYKaU/TKgCRDIOQ0I/AAAAAAAAAMk/Yo53b835uFo/s320/KaufmanBlog.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523667434890740546" border="0" /></a></div>For me, the process is an intuitive one. Since I write character-driven plots, I try to let them lead the way. Keeping myself out of the equation, I think, is the best way to create a story that's genuine, fresh, and--most important--spontaneous. I see myself as a visitor in their world, not the other way around. I'm simply there to help them tell their story and to occasionally throw a hurdle or two in their way to create tension, then to watch and see how they work to move past them.<br /><br /><div>I've never been one to rely heavily on outlines, mostly because my <span style="cursor: pointer; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1286074138_0">writing process</span> is so fluid and the story seems to change quickly. If I did use one, it would become obsolete within days. For me, it's all about The Journey,which I take every time I look into a blank screen. Charting my every step would take all the joy out of it.</div>Wooferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08042672012155516555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-95356679902083726.post-43201939683161233232010-09-27T20:33:00.000-07:002010-09-27T21:30:14.582-07:00By the Seat of My PantsI belong to several Yahoo! groups devoted to a number of different subjects. In one of the these groups, somebody posed a question to the writers in the group, asking them how they approached a project. Did they work from a detailed outline or did they wing it?<br /><br />I've tried both, and I have found I prefer flying by the seat of my pants. When working from an outline, I found that my work was forced, the events as they unfolded seemed contrived, and the characters stiff. No matter how real they were in my mind, the rigidity with which I was approaching the project left no room for straying. I had an outline and I didn't budge from it. I was working towards a goal, forcing characters to behave and respond in certain ways in order to reach the intended finale I had in mind. What I ended up with was crap.<br /><br />When I approach a project now, I have a general idea in my head about what the story is going to be. Before I start writing, I create brief character sketches, complete with physical descriptions and biographies. With that in hand, I begin my project. With the loosely conceived idea, I find I have more freedom to create, events arise more naturally as the story progresses, and the characters speak and react in a more realistic manner. The characters take over and its like they are telling me what needs to happen and where the story needs to go. I find myself quite often straying from the original story line I had conceived, with events arising that I had never originally thought of. This rarely happened when I worked from an outline; I knew what the story was supposed to be and I knew better than the characters. They needed to shut the hell up and let me write. After all, I had created them; I knew what was best for them. How wrong I was. Now I treat my characters life E.F. Hutton. . . You know the commercial. . . "When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen." When my characters try to speak to me, I stop what I'm doing, let them take over, and sit back and enjoy the ride.<br /><br />If you're a writer reading this, I'd be interested to hear how you approach a project.Wooferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08042672012155516555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-95356679902083726.post-14632094266410409402010-09-21T21:57:00.001-07:002010-09-21T22:30:40.379-07:00The Writing ProcessI've been following one of the many Yahoo writing groups, and today they were going back and forth about the writing process and which was the best. Many of them admitted to editing as they wrote, while others said they wrote their first draft and then went back to edit. <br /><br />When I write, I don't work from an outline. I have everything loosely formulated in my head, and quite often I have the ending sketched out before I've even written two pages. Now it's just a matter of getting there. As a result, I tend to write straight through for fear of losing the storyline that I've created in my head. I suppose the easy way around that would be to jot down notes in a notebook. With that said, I have been guilty of editing as I go, but, as a rule, I try not to edit as I write because I find the writing process takes longer than if I knocked out the first draft without editing. <br /><br />The first manuscript that I completed I wrote in two weeks working 10 to 12 hours a day. The editing seemed like a never-ending process. I often wonder what would have happened if I edited the manuscript while I was working on it. If some of the short stories I've written are any example, which are the projects I find I tend to edit while I write due to the shorter nature of the project, I'd still be working on the first draft. <br /><br />As with any rule, however, there are exceptions. When I have stepped away from a project for any period of time, I find I have to re-read what I've written in order to get back into the flow of things. As I read, I find myself making notes on the hard copy I've printed out, and before I know it, I'm back into the file and and doing a full-scale edit, making changes, reworking paragraphs, and sometimes deleting blocks of text entirely and recreating them.<br /><br />How about you? Which way do you prefer to write?Wooferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08042672012155516555noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-95356679902083726.post-25242247328507458222010-09-20T23:25:00.000-07:002010-09-20T23:26:12.823-07:00The Bastardization of the Classics<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_QYjrjvKYKaU/TJf_AxpqJwI/AAAAAAAAAK4/TPcXvhJad8Q/s1600/pride-and-prejudice-and-zombies.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 132px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_QYjrjvKYKaU/TJf_AxpqJwI/AAAAAAAAAK4/TPcXvhJad8Q/s200/pride-and-prejudice-and-zombies.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519160257158981378" border="0" /></a>A few days ago, I came across something on Twitter that rubbed me the wrong way. A well-known publisher had asked the following question: <span class="status-body"><span class="status-content"><span class="entry-content">Which classic/popular literary work do you want to see overrun by zombie hordes? Add your opinion in the latest zombie survey.<br /><br />When I first read about <span style="font-style: italic;">Pride and Prejudice and Zombies</span>, I admit to being intrigued by the idea. I thought it was novel, taking a classic and "zombie-fying" it, and I was interested to see how the author would approach it. Little did I know -- and maybe I had just read the wrong reviews -- that it was going to be Jane Austen's novel word for word with additions and tweakings to include the zombie hordes. For me, while there was an originality of concept, there was zero artistic creativity. This was more about creative editing than it was about writing. So for the life of me I cannot understand why this book is receiving the rave reviews it has. I would have preferred to see the author rewrite Austen's story in his own words and include the new elements while maintaining the tone of the original work. This, to me, would have been worthy of the reviews it has been receiving.<br /><br />Now, unfortunately, due to the commercial success of </span></span></span><span class="status-body"><span class="status-content"><span class="entry-content"><span style="font-style: italic;">Pride and Prejudice and Zombies</span>, we</span></span></span><span class="status-body"><span class="status-content"><span class="entry-content"> are see a glut of copycats hit the shelves. There's <span style="font-style: italic;">The Undead World of Oz</span> (which I have had the misfortune of reading), <span style="font-style: italic;">The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Zombie Jim</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Alice in Zombieland</span>, and </span></span></span><span class="status-body"><span class="status-content"><span class="entry-content"><span style="font-style: italic;">War of the Worlds Plus Blood, Guts and Zombies</span>, to name a few. And it hasn't stopped with zombies. There's also <span style="font-style: italic;">Emma and the Werewolves</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Android Karenina</span>, and these are just the ones I've heard about. I'm sure there are others, and now a publisher is toying with the idea of adding more?! When is it going to end? Enough is enough. I would love to see these authors apply their creative energies to something original. Leave the classics alone and come up with something new.<br /><br /></span></span></span>Wooferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08042672012155516555noreply@blogger.com1